The Lost House
by blue-eyed-phoenix
Summary: Alternate Reality, before Dune.The Journal entries of Kavan Baramillio Ledonne, Ducal heir to House Ledonne, and designated protector of the young Shaddam IV.
1. Default Chapter

Prologue

My name is Crimson, in these times, and to those who know me. In the greater universe, and in the past, my name in full was Kavan Baramillio Ledonne, ducal heir to House Ledonne's possessions.

_The following text presents my situation in the fourteenth year of the reign of Empress Regent Darlana, and in what would have been the 74th year of the reign of the Padishah Emperor, Seannachmedh VIII_

My mother, Lady Antyre Ledonne, is the current Ducal Regent. My father, Priam, died when I was three years old, little more than an infant. My mother's husband, Captain Absalom Shaw, is not eligible to become Duke, and thus he will retain the honorary title of Consort until my eighteenth birthday, which is a mere eight months away. On that auspicious date, I will assume command of the Ducal throne, and become solely responsible for government and administration of nine planets, each with billions of inhabitants, and their own distinct cultures and history.

The fief of House Ledonne, while not as rich as those of House Harkonnen or House Atreides, is still generous in its own right. Our fief was granted to us by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam II over 350 years ago, for military services rendered by my ancestors during the Sardaukar Uprising. The nine planets we control lie on the outer edge of the Corrino Imperium, and are currently free of Landsraad influence. Our family has often in the past been referred to as a renegade House because we refuse to ally ourselves with the Landsraad Council of Great Houses. It is a long-cherished belief of House Ledonne that democracy is a disease that cripples the authoritative establishments, and weakens the state as a whole, wherever it may spring up. The Great Houses of the Landsraad have chosen to place themselves opposite the Emperor in the balance of power, while my own family is one of only a few who will stand beside House Corrino against the upstarts, such as House Atreides. Our near cousins the Harkonnens may be ambitious, but they are not stupid, and nor are they brave. They are content to cause mass sufferings in their own realms without causing spillover elsewhere. Perhaps it is our secrecy that causes such clouds of suspicion to attach themselves to our name. Doubtless, many wonder what we do here in our fief at the very edge of the Padishah Emperor's realm. Allow me to enlighten you: We spy. The Line of Imperial succession (beyond the heir designate or the heir apparent,) is a closely guarded secret, and we have been, for more than two centuries, the guardians of that secret. Only the reigning Emperor and the head of House Ledonne are privy to that vital information. Over the years, the necessity of absolute secrecy has facilitated the growth of an immense Imperial Spy Corps, operating outside the conventional bounds of government intelligence. Our family is the heart and nerve center of that vast spiderweb, and no report ever reaches the emperor's ears but that we have already known of its contents. The Corps is composed of carefully selected male and female candidates chosen from birth and taken from all classes and backgrounds. Bene Gesserit, Tleilaxu, and Guild affiliates are all excluded for the obvious issue of conflicting allegiance. Although the Bene Gesserit witches are not allowed within the corps, their training methods are one of the chief pillars of our own training school. Our spies are loyal to the Emperor, of course, but their chief loyalty is to House Ledonne. The sanctity of our position is ingrained into their minds from the very earliest days of their life. The name Ledonne, and the symbols of our House, the Phoenix and the Eye, are tantamount with holy ikons to them. They also understand that the genetic line preserved in the males of our House is the guardian bloodline of House Corrino. Many centuries ago, before ever our family rose to greatness, we were selected by House Corrino and the Bene Gesserit to be the genetic mirror of House Corrino. An ancient contract has assured that the agreement be kept throughout the reign of the Padishah Emperors, unto the end of House Corrino. The obvious predilection of this agreement being, of course, that all marriages for the males of my House have been and will continue to be arranged by the Bene Gesserit Truthsayer in the employ of the Emperor. My mother's marriage to Captain Shaw is the only known exception to this ancient agreement, and was only allowed to occur due to the fact that I had already been designated the Ducal Heir upon my mother's ascendancy as Regent, and my genetic purity had been verified long before they met. My two half sisters, Tatiana and Zandrine, will never pose a significant threat to the royal bloodline, Because Shaw's own Genetic makeup is far too impure to have allowed any of the Imperial Genes to survive. Nonetheless, they will never be allowed to produce heirs of their own, due to the legal complications which could arise if the Landsraad ever discovered the existence of the Contract of Descent.

Amid this swirl of political intrigue, less adept and cunning minds than my own would never have survived under the intense strain of constant diplomatic subterfuge. It is amazing that I was ever able to develop into the functioning, able person I have become. Nevertheless, my own destiny has been known to me several years. I am to serve as Grand Vizier in the Imperial Household, to counteract the influence that the Bene Gesserit have gained upon the mind of the Empress Darlana, who is the current Imperial Regent. Her nephew, Shaddam IV, will assume the throne after an additional ten years of waiting, thanks to the Bene Gesserit, who pushed back the age of consent for the throne. Shaddam and I share a birthday, and as I am a mere 3 hours older than he, we should have taken our respective thrones together, in a joint ceremony before the entire Council assembled. However, it has now become imperative that I complete the mission that has been assigned to me before it will be safe for him to even utter the word "coronation." The obvious and ever-present danger of assassination has recently been aggravated by an open, brazenly insolent alliance between the Bene Gesserit and the Tleilaxu. Tleilaxu face-dancers are time-honored method of assassination used by the Bene Gesserit against those more powerful than they. It is my responsibility, and my duty to eliminate this growing threat, and to prevent the Bene Gesserit from attaining their goal of replacing House Corrino as the ruling House of the Imperium. The Empress Darlana too, is a threat, and will be eliminated if the need for such action arises. –

_You now know the state of affairs in the Corrino Imperium on the eve of my ascendancy as Duke, and at the beginning of the Saga of the second salvation of House Corrino. You have caught a glimpse of my future, now, be witness to my past._


	2. Early Life

**Chapter 1**

_On my early Life, and on the situations and persons that fomented the present crisis._

I was born in the Capitoline Palace of House Ledonne, on the planet W'iilsaeil XIV, A planet very similar to old Earth, (yes, my entire family is well versed in ancient history.) The Capitoline Palace itself was constructed by Xavier Harkonnen III, several decades after the end of the Butlerian Jihad. The main Keep towered 140 stories above the plateau upon which it stood, overlooking the river of K'valsie as it thunders in a majestic, curving waterfall into the Bay of K'vallan. The Keep was surrounded by smaller buildings, servant's quarters, guest palaces for those uncomfortable with the extreme heights of the keep, administrative facilities, and the occasional monument to some honored specimen of my ancestry. The whole complex was imbedded in the largest botanical garden complex off the Imperial Capital, Kaitain.

To allow you to grasp the true enormity and majesty of the place I once called home, I will describe the Keep's most unusual architecture. The Keep resembled one of the ancient pyramidions of Earth, but also had the elements of more modern structures. It's base began with four gargantuan "talons" which spread outward from a square, central base. They were angled softly upward, and the angle suddenly increased at the 47th level, that is to say, at approximately the one-quarter mark of the structural whole. At this point, the three "toes" at the base of the four outcroppings merged into the four titanic support bastions that angle sharply upward from the talons into the square central tower. Halfway up the central tower, the corners abruptly ended, and from that point upward, four graceful cylindrical columns soared upward, capped with a flower-like crown, causing a striking resemblance to Egyptian papyrus pillars. These four columns, together with the four support bastions, were topped by a huge, square level of granite, which in turn provided level ground for the pinnacle structures. Above the crown of each of the four papyrus columns, a turret sprouted from the granite courtyard square, and between each turret, a marble "half-pyramid" rose, thus forming a barrier between the remainder of the central courtyard and the roughly one-hundred-twenty story drop on the other side. From above the keep, it would seem as if two gigantic marble pyramids had been split down the middle, and placed like sections of a fence between the four turrets, enclosing the royal courtyard like mountains around a secret valley. In the center of the large courtyard between the pyramidions, there is a final turreted pavilion, the crown of the Keep itself.

Within the topmost apartments of the Keep, within that pavilion, My family lived for almost four hundred years, the last twenty-three of which saw me in residence there. From our lofty vantage point, it was possible to see with the unaided eye three separate cities, and the shores of two oceans. My own bedchamber sat on the topmost floor of the pavilion, the very highest spot on the entire planet. I can remember with startling clarity the grace and beauty of the Keep in midwinter, with the grey granite covered in various spots with a light coverlet of snow, and the white marble at the top appearing like vast blotches of immaculate snowfall themselves, giving one the impression that a huge, perfectly proportioned mountain had sprouted up from the plateau.

It was in a snowstorm that my mother gave birth to me, Kavan, the one destined to be known as the Blue-Eyed Phoenix, heir to House Ledonne, guardian of Imperial Dignity, and saviour of House Corrino.

Just days after my birth, the wet nurses noted a dramatic change in my appearance, and brought it immediately to the attention of my parents. Instead of my family's trademark gold irises, mine were a bright aqua-blue, and the "whites" of my eyes were blue as well. My Father immediately recognized the effects of overexposure to the spice, mélange, and called our resident Bene Gesserit Novitiate to examine me. The sister proclaimed that I had inexplicably entered spice-trance a few hours after birth. Spice trance is well known to be potentially fatal for infants, and this led my parents to a horrifying conclusion: assassination.

My father was incensed, and he immediately began a rigorous search for the culprit. It has been rumored that his wrath was so great that all the smugglers who carried spice out of Arrakis for up to one month prior to my birth were hunted down and executed by the Emperor to appease my raging father. The assassin was never found, but the self-same Bene Gesserit novitiate who examined me was recalled by her superiors only seven days after the search began. It has been inferred by various persons and political groups that the Bene Gesserit wanted me out of the way to further their own breeding program. It is a well-known fact among the Great Houses that House Harkonnen's entire genetic makeup has largely been fashioned by the Bene Gesserit throughout long centuries of genetic manipulation, and perhaps they wished my mother to be supplanted with a candidate of their own choosing, such as one of the many Harkonnen cousins they have within their complete and utter control. Whatever their reasons for attempting to kill me were, they failed, and although I am still alive, I have been addicted to mélange ever since.

As I grew, my parents noticed that I learned everything quickly, and comprehended many things older children, and, even the occasional dense adult could not. I was speaking in complete, eloquent sentences at one year of age, and by the age of three I was an excellent swimmer.

It was in the sixth month of my third year that my father died. He was aboard one of the family transport frigates, preparing to dock with a Guild Heighliner, and there was a tremendous explosion. Both ships and all aboard them were vaporized instantly. I can remember, though somewhat vaguely, sitting in the palace gardens with my mother, and seeing a sudden, bright flash in the night sky, followed by my mother's agonized screams as she realized her beloved husband was dead. That very night, in the Great Hall of the Keep, the documents proclaiming me to be the legal Duke were signed, and my mother took the Oath of Regency while still in a state of shock and bereavement.

The next three years of my life passed without great incident, and my learning progressed at an astonishing rate. My mother brought in her old Bene Gesserit tutor, Juliana Vel'Daan, to instruct me as she had my mother in the basic mental and physical training techniques of the Bene Gesserit.

At the age of Seven, I began to learn the fine art of swordsmanship, an art needed and used by the masses, but one that is absolutely _imperative_ for any Great House member. An ex-Sardaukar Captain, Absalom Shaw, was selected by the Emperor to be my Swords master. The Emperor, in his communiqué to my mother, said: "Although it grieves me terribly to lose such an able commander, I can think of no better retirement for a Sardaukar Captain than to train a Ducal heir in swordsmanship, that one day he may the better defend House Corrino against it's enemies."

The man was quick-tempered, loud, uncouth, rude, and almost unbearably strict. I can recall numerous occasions upon which I felt that my life was being deliberately put into danger. His every whim became a command to me, usually something he knew I absolutely hated. He seemed to take a perverse pleasure out of causing me anguish, and the deplorable situation was only made worse by his rather morbid and vulgar sense of humor. His jokes made me feel uncomfortable and dirty, but I was forced to pretend they were funny, because if he ever suspected me of being "cheeky," he would promptly begin his usual tirade, and commence with the beating that usually followed. His opinion on everything was _always_ the only possible version of the correct truth, and anyone who ever dared to disagree was quickly shown the "error of their ways," and if they continued to hold their own opinions upon that topic, he would get moody, and act quite juvenile, refusing to acknowledge the person's existence, and if they ever dared to discuss the offensive issue, his fury knew no bounds.

Every spare moment I was able to keep to myself, I occupied by sitting alone in the vast library in the mid-levels of the Keep, studying about the Butlerian Jihad, the formation of the Orange Catholic Bible, the Great Convention, the centuries-long hiding of the Hebrews, and countless other items of historical, political, and religious significance. These minutes added up to hours, days, weeks, months, and finally, cumulative years of studying. By the time I had officially completed my Swordsmanship Training, I had not only become an expert on the various fencing styles of over 300 different civilizations, but had amassed an enormous amount of knowledge on other, _somewhat more fascinating_ subjects.

It had only been a week since I passed the very taxing and potentially deadly dueling test against a very well trained Tleilaxu apprentice, when my mother confronted me on the large central plaza of the Palace Gardens. I remember her softly approaching me from behind, as I stood contemplating a statue of my paternal grandfather, Priam the First.

"_Kavan…"_

"_Yes, mother?"_

"_Son, we need to talk…"_

"_What's the matter?"_ I asked, turning to face her. She appeared to me like some strange character from a fairy tale, the wise feminine figure that is in possession of a fantastic secret, just waiting to be revealed.

"_Well, I have an announcement to make, son, I….well…I am going to marry Captain Shaw!"_

The last seven words came out in a rush, and it took a moment for me to register this rather horrifying piece of information. I do not believe I will ever be able to forget the look of crushed joy and shattered hope on my mother's face, when, upon receiving this revelation, I promptly burst into tears.

Exactly one week to the day after this rather dramatic scene, I had a new stepfather. The ceremony had of course taken place in the Great Hall of the Keep, with the appropriate level of pomp and ceremony that, by rights, should accompany a ducal wedding. I must admit, however much I may have been pleased to see my mother happy again as she was before my father died, I was rather, well… _furious _that Captain Shaw, the man who had been nothing but a thorn in my side for years, was now to become a family member. The wedding itself, however was a source of endless satisfaction to me, due to the high level of political clout held by the majority of those in attendance. The Emperor himself sent a congratulatory delegation.

Although my mother was happy with her husband, and despite the fact that he himself possessed not an ounce of political acumen, his sudden ascendancy to the rank of Consort produced quite a stir among the other Great Houses. Many still believed Shaw to be a functioning member of the Sardaukar Legionnaires, thus, it appeared to them as if the marriage was a political power grab on the part of both parties. Several of the leading Houses of the Landsraad petitioned the Emperor, demanding that he annul my mother's marriage. When they became desperate after multiple vetoes, they attempted to blackmail the Emperor, claiming that they were in possession of several documents revealing the Emperor to be in violation of the Butlerian Jihad. Through House Ledonne's vast spy network, the Emperor was able to obtain enough incriminating intelligence to thoroughly thwart the offending Houses.

After several rumors of death threats against my mother, myself, and even against Captain Shaw had reached the ears of the Emperor, he immediately took drastic measures to secure our safety. Two entire legions of Sardaukar were sent to W'iilsael, and in a formal Imperial Decree before the Landsraad, declared our fief to be under Imperial protection. In the last paragraph of the manifesto, the Emperor made it very clear that any actions taken against House Ledonne's personnel or possessions would be considered a declaration of war against the Imperium.

Waves of fear and outrage rippled across the Imperium after this "abominable invasion of Landsraad sovereignty." We received reports through our various spies that at least 34 of the Great and Minor Houses had recalled their nukes from their various hiding places, and were preparing to defend themselves against any "overt Imperial aggression."

Yet it seems that not even the threat and fear of a full-scale interstellar war could quench our enemies' thirst for my family's blood. Even after every diplomatic and military barrier had been erected against them, the assassins got through, but instead of my mother, they were hunting _me_. By the time the Emperor delivered his infamous Decree, beginning a cold war that would last for over a decade, I was nine years old, and two and one-half years had passed since my mother's marriage to Captain Shaw. After the day of the Decree's delivery, it seemed that I had become the most prized and valuable game to be won in the hunting grounds of assassins, bounty hunters, and mercenaries. There were numerous attempts, and the first and most dangerous of these attempts came barely a month after the Sardaukar arrived on W'iilsael.

A young man, a slave, arrived from Wallach IX, one of the rare "kept boys" of the Bene Gesserit. It has been reported by our spies that they are kept for the singular purpose of satisfying the sexual needs of ill-disciplined novitiates. Whether or not the reports are true, it is a definite truth that the boy was indeed handsome and of good physical form. He came in the guise of a gift, a slave of musical talent, "for the benefit of his highness, Kavan." The bait was strong, and I, being naïve, took it without suspicion. The young man was absolutely _gorgeous_, and even at the age of nine, I was acutely aware of the fact that I was a homosexual. One thing that must be understood about Spice Trance is that it awakens the _entire_ array of the senses, and speeds the growth of those who have experienced it as infants. Thus, at the age of nine, I had the body of a normal sixteen year old, and I knew well the sexual urges felt by those older than I.

The Bene Gesserit knew that the failed assassination attempt (whether or not the deed was theirs) would have this effect on my development, and must have subsequently ransacked their entire genealogical library, trying to find the 'recipe' if you will, for the perfect tool with which to seduce me. There is little doubt in my mind that Tämle, (for that was his name) was a genetic ghola created for my destruction. Although later occurrences leave broad room for conjecture, it is a near certainty that he, the one and only love of my life, was a Tleilaxu creation, brewed like mélange-coffee in an axolotl tank, with the singular purpose of destroying House Ledonne.

Tämle arrived on a bitter, misty morning. After my usual routine—a walk through the East wing of the Gardens, the daily inspection of the Palace guard, a healthy breakfast with Tatiana and Zandrine, and a 30- minute walk with Captain Shaw—I went up to our pavilion to help my mother with the usual business of politics. By the time the two suns of W'iilsaeil had climbed within a few degrees of their apex, we had granted two petitions from disgruntled whalers, rejected a proposal sent to us from Ix, intercepted twelve ridiculously frivolous reports to the Emperor, and secured an advance on my annual mélange shipment from Arrakis. My mother reminded me that our near cousins, the Baron Harkonnen and his niece, would be arriving today. They were here for a "family visit," which of course meant either threats or pleading. It seemed that the only time I ever heard the voice of one of my Harkonnen cousins; it was either consumed with rageful threats and pompous pontificating, or pitifully begging for some favor on the part of House Ledonne. I was not pleased with the fact that my harlot of a cousin, Batrizze, would be staying with us for almost _three months_. Although my mother shared my distaste for our relatives, she seemed somewhat more resigned about the entire affair. But, as you will see, tranquility is not one of my strengths.

"_Kavan,"_ my mother said, as we entered the lift that would whisk us down 139 stories through solid marble and granite, _"do not ever assume, even for a moment, that the position and responsibilities of a Duke are easy. Also remember that you, as heir of House Ledonne, are honor-bound to uphold the dignity of House Corrino. Our fate is bound with theirs, and I fear that the tests I have faced, both with and without your father, are as nothing against that which you shall endure in your time. Always remember our symbol, the Phoenix. Learn to use Turbulence as a tool to effect change; otherwise, you will end up allowing your own destruction." _

At the time, I did not heed my mother's words consciously, but I do recall a maddening sense of _purpose_, a sense of impatience and apprehension pervading my mind, a sudden wave of fear, followed by a doubtful suspicion of all the old, familiar senses of home. Perhaps it was only my complacence being shattered by my mother's warnings, but I did not want warnings, or admonitions. With the typical adolescent arrogance, I wanted to be given the reins of government then and there, to prove to my mother, (and perhaps, even more, to the memory of my father,) the strength and mental acuity that lived in her son. I wanted the confidence within me, which had gone unchallenged for so long, to remain unchallenged.

As I stepped out of the lift, a wave of anger caught up with me. I wanted so badly to release my feelings, to pour out my soul to my mother. A sense of constraint was making my ears buzz, and the rage building within me was causing my temples to throb at a furious pace. I turned to my mother.

"_If the Phoenix is immortalized by transformation, why should I fear the changes going on around me? You tell me to use turbulence, but how? Can't you tell me how? How is it that you can always give commands, but never explain how they are to be done!" _

I yelled the questions; spat them out at her, hot with the childish wrath so typical of me. My anger deflated, and crystallized immediately into sorrow. I turned away in shame, trying desperately to stop the tears which threatened to spill from my eyes.

"_Thank the Gods you're angry…"_ she murmured.

"_What?"_ I asked, perplexed.

"_Given a choice between seeing you wild with anger, or paralyzed with apathy, I will always choose anger."_

I gazed at her bemused, somewhat appraising expression, waiting for her to continue.

"_At least your anger proves that your mind can reinforce a decision your heart has made. Just remember not to get caught up in the conflict between your mind and your heart. The ability to navigate one's emotions, and to control them when needed, is what makes us human. Be wise, Kavan, but remember also: to rage is good for the soul."_

She turned and walked through the massive East Portal, on her way to meet Zhravii Hammu, the highest ranking military official in our fief, and General-in-command of our Sardaukar protection force.

Her last instructions to me before we had left the pavilion were to greet our Harkonnen cousins when they would arrive on W'iilsaeil at noon. Unfortunately, this left me no time at all for a meal in the palace, and it appeared as if I would have to depend on the appetites of my notoriously greedy cousins if I hoped to eat anything at all. I turned, took several deep breaths, and hurried out the North Portal without the slightest premonition of the fateful meeting about to occur.


End file.
